#SneakPeekSunday - Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

In her New York Times bestselling and Morris Award-winning debut, Rachel Hartman introduces mathematical dragons in an alternative-medieval world to fantasy and science-fiction readers of all ages. Eragon-author Christopher Paolini calls them, "Some of the most interesting dragons I've read in fantasy."

Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.

Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen's Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.

Sneak Peek Review

I received a copy of this sneak peek from Random House Books for Young Readers through Netgalley. This is my honest review.

When I grabbed this sneak peek, I was confusing it with a different book (Serafina and the Black Cloak) that I've had my eye on for a while now. Granted, that wouldn't have stopped me from getting it because sneak peeks on Netgalley are somewhat limited I'm finding, but it's not the book I thought I was peeking into. And I realize the covers for the two books are very different, but books get new covers all the time, so I thought that's what happened here. But in spite of my mix-up, I was rather pleased with this sneak peek.

I was only treated to a very small portion of this book, so there are a lot of things that I do not understand about this world yet, or Seraphina herself. Really, the only way for me to have a full understanding of the world from a sneak peek would be for there to be a huge info dump right at the beginning, and that would have been rather boring, so I'm glad it didn't happen, even if I am frustrated by not really knowing anything about the world I just dipped my toes into.

From what I could gather, in this world dragons can shapeshift to take on human form, but they are required to wear bells so as to be easily identifiable to humans, although there seem to be some exceptions to that rule. And because dragons were dangerous creatures in the past, tensions between the two races are quite high. I felt that there were some comparisons to be made to current relations between different groups amongst society in our world, although with only the sneak peek, there are no easy conclusions to be reached on that score.

I'm also left with some suspicions about Seraphina's origin, and there is a mystery about a certain saint that is mentioned that I'm interested to uncover as well.

I am definitely interested in reading more from this book and have added it to my wish list because I'm not allowed to buy any more books this pay period, but I will definitely be buying it at some point in the future so I can continue this story. - Katie

Rachel Hartman is the author of the acclaimed YA fantasy novel SERAPHINA, a New York Times bestseller and winner of the 2013 Morris Award, and its sequel SHADOW SCALE. Coming in 2018 is TESS OF THE ROAD, a third novel set in the same fantasy world, following the adventures of one of Seraphina's younger half-sisters. Rachel lives with her family in Vancouver, Canada. In her free time she sings with a madrigal choir (the QuasiModals), walks her whippet in the rain, and is learning to fence. You can visit her blog at http://rachelhartmanbooks.com or follow her on Twitter at @_rachelhartman